The Eye of the Dark Lord
by Daestwen
Summary: Line from the second chapter: 'Eavesdropper!' Squeaked the shrunken head on the wall, but Harry ignored it. (Good enough summary for Chap. 1)
1. The Unwanted

Harry Potter and the Eye of the Dark Lord

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all things linked with it belong to J.K. Rowling. Plot, and Professor Quinton, are my own original ideas, and it would be appreciated if you didn't take them.

~*~

CHAPTER ONE: The Unwanted

*

Dumbledore sat in his comfortable chair behind his desk in his office. The many portraits of past headmasters all slept, heads upon their chests, as Dumbledore sat, staring at the door. A snake was curled up on the papers before him, its scales shiny black and its eyes a piercing green. A thin white line wound like a chain about its neck. Dumbledore was not alone, for the Potions Master Professor Snape sat in a chair at the other side of the room, his head bowed slightly, and his eyes narrowed as he stared at the floor in thought. A tabby-cat, thin lines of fur like glasses around its eyes, sat by the door, flicking its tail.

"When he comes, you should try acting like an actual cat, Professor." Dumbledore said quietly, a slight twinkle in his eye. The cat flicked its tail again, but did not move.

The snake, it's black coils glinting in the firelight, left its place at the table and slithered its way to the shelf. Immediately, it wrapped itself around the Sorting Hat - much to the hat's dismay. Snape sat scowling in silence, and Dumbledore popped a candy into his mouth as they all waited for the door to open. They were all rewarded after a few minutes, when the cat moved from its position by the door to allow a huge burly man through. He was the size of a giant, with a big puffy beard and small black eyes.

"He's 'ere, sir." He said, his accent thick as it rolled off his tongue. "'E's outside."

"Let him in, Hagrid." Dumbledore said softly.

Hagrid nodded, and within two minutes the man was brought in. He was middle-aged, his hair receding from his forehead, and his hands and face pudgy as if swollen. His eyes were small and black like a pig's, and he writhed his hands nervously. The Auror's badge on his cloak was shiny and new.

"Professor Dumbledore." His voice was stuffy - an office voice.

"Mister Lassan, how may I help you?"

Lassan opened his mouth to speak, looked at Snape, and shut it.

"What's he doing here?" He asked abruptly. Snape, his hands now clasped beneath his chin, did not move.

"Professor Snape is here with my permission, Mister Lassan. Anything you have to say -"

"Is strictly confidential." Lassan interrupted.

Snape lifted his eyes a little, cold and black with a hint of a glare behind them. Dumbledore sighed deeply.

"Professor, if you would, please."

Snape gave a curt nod to the headmaster, a scowl to the Auror, and left the room.

"Professor Dumbledore, you must understand that this under the strictest confidentiality." Lassan said, peering suspiciously about the room. He spotted the cat as it flicked its tail again. He glared at it. "The strictest."

The cat rubbed itself against a table leg, and slipped through the partially open door. Lassan did not notice the snake, which was now gliding silently to the floor.

"You may continue, Mr. Lassan." Dumbledore encouraged.

"Fudge sent me." The pudgy little man said bluntly, "He thinks you're getting too involved."

"I, Mister Lassan, may be getting just involved enough." Dumbledore said quietly.

"You silly old fool!" Lassan exploded, "You shouldn't have told anybody! Now the whole wizarding world is in a panic!!"

The snake slid across the room.

"At least they are prepared, now." Dumbledore replied. His voice was calm.

"Prepared? Prepared?? No one is prepared! They're leaving the country in _droves_ Dumbledore!"

"There are enough that stay." His eyes were on the snake by Lassan's feet.

"Dumbledore, if you do not stop your meddling, then by god I will."

His hand went to his pocket.

_/Traitor!/_ The snake screamed in Parseltounge, but none in the room understood it. It was then that it struck. Its fangs sank deep into Lassan's fleshy leg, and he let out a cry, gripping his wand.

Dumbledore was on his feet, but Lassan had already acted.

"_Petrificus Totalus!"_ he cried, and the snake fell petrified to the floor. He turned to Dumbledore.

_"Adava Kedavra!"_

*

Harry awoke with a start. He didn't know if he had yelled aloud or not, but he had a feeling that he had. He moaned as he raised a hand to his forehead, the lightning-bolt scar burning furiously. It took a few minutes for the pain to ebb away, but it left Harry with a feeling of sickness and dread.

The details of the dream were drifting away from him, but he could still see that flash of green and hear that harsh snake voice: _/Traitor!/_

Was it real? Had someone attacked Dumbledore?

Harry felt sick, and he shut his eyes tight to chase away the feeling, when a new thought came to him.

It was his birthday.

With an oddly dim thought, Harry realized that he was 15. 15, and not a birthday penny to show for it. He sighed, and lay back in his sweat-chilled bed. It was light outside, but Aunt Petunia seemed to have forgotten to wake him.

He slowly stood up and dressed himself. Half way through pulling on his shirt, he was stopped by a shriek that erupted from downstairs.

_"Vernon! Vernon! Kill it! Kill it!"_

Harry frowned. Kill it?

This was followed by more shouting, and more screeching, and finally Harry made his way downstairs.

The front door was wide open, and all three of the Dursley's were on the lawn. Uncle Vernon was whacking the ground with a shovel, seemingly randomly, with a screaming Aunt Petunia behind him. Dudley, a little ways off, was white as a sheet as he watched his scarlet-coloured father work. A flash of black was all Harry could see as he ran forward.

_/Get away from me!/_ The voice was desperate, but vicious all the same, but the Dursley's didn't heed it.

"Stop!" Harry cried, tripping as he ran, "Stop it!"

He saw it then, black lightning as it dodged Vernon's shovel, swearing at him in Parseltounge.

"Stop!" Harry cried again, and caught the snake by the tail, hefting it into the air before Vernon smashed it's head in. The snake immediately curled around Harry's neck, hissing and spitting at Vernon.

"Put the thing down, boy." Uncle Vernon said dangerously, his knuckles going white where he gripped the spade.

"No! You'll kill it!"

"Put it down!"

"No!"

_/I should have bitten him…/_ The snake hissed.

"It's just Uncle Vernon, his hide's too tough to bite through anyway." Harry replied. Vernon's face lost its scarlet plumage very suddenly, and he gaped much like a fish. Dudley's eyes were wide.

"You _can _talk to snakes!" He cried. Aunt Petunia promptly fainted.

Harry decided that this would probably be the best time to disappear, so he bolted back to the house and locked himself in his room.

The snake, sensing safety, slid down from Harry's neck to the floor.

_/Nice place…/_ It said, looking around.

"You were the snake in my dream, weren't you?"

_/Dreamsss?/_ The snake asked.

"Oh. I guess snakes don't… But I saw you!"

_/I have dreams… though snakes do not./_

"Sorry? Are you not - - - Are you not a snake?"

_/I am currently, but normally I'm a Professor./_ It's green eyes seemed to twinkle at Harry.

Harry blinked in return.

"Then you're an animagus?"

_/Yesss… I would change back, but your uncle…/_

"I understand. You're a Professor? A Hogwarts Professor?"

_/Yesss… Professor Quinton, at your service./_ The snake bowed its head slightly, which Harry thought looked extremely peculiar.

"Oh, right. Harry Potter."

_/I knew that, or I wouldn't have come./_

"But… If you're a Professor… Then you must be the one from my dream!"

_/What dream, Harry?/_

Harry told all of what he could remember, and when he finished, Quinton's eyes were dark.

_/You saw all this?/_

"Yes…"

_/Then I am sorry to say it is all true./_

Harry's heart dropped into his stomach.

"Then Dumbledore' s dead?" His voice cracked midway through the sentence.

/Hogwarts magic is old, Harry, and protection in that room is heavy… He is not dead, but his soul has left his body. He might not come back./

Harry sat down hard with a thump.

"Who…? Who would…?"

/We don't know, but you can't stay here. It's not safe anymore./

"But where is safe?"

/Nowhere, but we can't keep you here./

"What do you mean? Where would I go? I thought this was safe! I thought it was protected…"

/It was, and the man who was protecting it is no longer able to. So you are to come with me. You are still needed, Harry, so we have to keep you safe./

"Where are we going?"

/The only place we can go. I'll have to turn back now… Keep your voice down, we must leave with as little commotion as possible./

Harry nodded, and the snake began to grow and transform before his eyes – scales to skin, sides to arms.

The human before him gave him quite a shock. Where he had expected a man, he was faced by a pale woman. She was tall and lanky, with shoulder bones like sharp corners of her figure. Her skin was pale, with a blue tint instead of pink, and there were dark bags under her eyes. Her hair was straight and black, falling almost to her shoulders but not quite. She was clothed entirely in black, with only the tips of her pale fingers visible in the mass of dark fabric. She looked cold, and sad, save her eyes. Her emerald eyes that sparkled with a twinkle reminiscing of Dumbledore' s own. She wasn't smiling, but wore a small, sad frown that told of many horrors unseen.

"Trunk." She said, unmoving and quiet, as if she was stone. Harry nodded, and dragged his trunk out of his closest, doing a quick check to make sure it was packed. It was. 

"Intrasarium." Quinton whispered, with a flick of her wand. The trunk shrunk to pocketsize.

"I'm afraid," She said quietly, "I only have one invisibility potion, and I don't have a cloak…"

"I have one, Professor." He said quickly.

Quinton looked at him, not out of surprise, but something else that he couldn't quite place. She nodded.

"Yes, I thought you might."

Harry extracted the pocket-sized cloak from the pocket-sized trunk, and handed it to Quinton.

"Extrasarium." She said, flicking her wand again, and the cloak grew back to full size.

"Put it on, and get your broomstick. You'll have to let your owl go so that I can shrink her cage. She can go to Hogwarts."

Harry nodded, and walked over to Hedwig. "Go to Hogwarts," he said as he opened the cage door, "You'll be safe there."

Hedwig hopped out of the cage, nipped Harry's ear sympathetically, and flew out the open window. Harry grabbed his broomstick, and threw his cloak over his shoulders. With a small push, Quinton opened the window and said softly, "Accio, Drangonwing." A broomstick floated into her hand. She looked at Harry, and took a flask from her pocket.

"Once I drink this," She said, shaking the bottle a little, "I will be invisible to you, but I shall leave a trail of faint red sparks for you to follow. If you need to stop, say so. Do you understand?"

Harry nodded, before he realized that he was invisible.

"Yes." He said instead. 

"Very well." Quinton pushed a small black button on her broomstick, and it disappeared from Harry's sight. Her broom safely invisible, she took the stopper from the vial, and poured the shimmering silver potion down her throat. She began to fade, and after a few seconds, was completely invisible.

Out of nowhere, there was a faintly glowing red spark where the Professor had once stood, and then another appeared less than half a foot away.

Harry clambered onto his broom, and kicked off the floor, passing the red sparks as he did so. Each time he passed one, it turned green and disappeared, presumably to make sure he didn't fall behind. 

It was his birthday, Dumbledore was gone, and Harry was leaving everything behind.

*

The Next Chapter to Come: 'The Snake's Wings'


	2. The Snake's Wings

CHAPTER TWO: The Snake's Wings

*

The flight lasted hours, only stopping once for a bit of food, and for Quinton to give Harry a Wakefulness potion. For hours and hours Harry did nothing but follow the tiny red lights, as the sun set and the stars made it difficult to see.

It was nearly morning when the sparks finally headed towards the ground. He landed in the midst of a large ruined castle, crumbling and overgrown with vines. 

The Professor pushed the button on her broom, and it popped back into Harry's vision at once, though Quinton herself was still invisible.

"The counter-potion is in the bathroom cupboard of the second dungeon, so I'm afraid you'll have to follow behind my broom. You can take your cloak off, now." She added.

Harry did so, and followed the floating broom through the ruins. After a few minutes, the broom stopped to rest on the ground before an overgrown and decrepit statue. It was of a woman, holding a long sword, and with a large snake wrapped around her. There was writing sprawled around the bottom of the statue.

_"Gladium in vaginum recondĕre ex serpens in ducĕre otim."_ Harry read aloud, "What does that mean?"

" '_To Sheath the Sword of Snakes is to Bring Peace.'_" Quinton said, as she ran a hand down the serpent's stone scales, "It is my family motto."

"Odd motto…"

"Odd family." She said it with no humour, and Harry wondered if it had been meant as a joke at all.

"You're a pureblood?" Harry asked the air, he knew she was somewhere near him.

"Yes. Though this is the house of my maternal grandmother. It would have been mine, but…" She shrugged, and used the broom to indicate the ruins, "It was not meant to be. Here it is!" She pushed something, and Harry almost jumped when the statue began to move. No, it _blinked_.

"I am the Guardian of this castle. Speak, if ye be sons of our house." Its voice was low, but not unpleasant. The statue moved its eyes from the invisible Quinton to Harry; it's gaze grey and irking in its persistence.

"I am a daughter of the sword," Quinton said in a matching low tone, "And I bring a son of the serpent."

"I know you, Daughter, and greet you. Serpent son, your kind have not visited for many a century."

The snake then raised its stone head, looking at Harry with the same unblinking gaze.

_/Welcome, Brother… Peace to your Household./_ It said in Parseltounge. Harry wondered if he should reply, before he heard himself already doing so.

"Peace to every household."

The stone snake nodded, and the statue moved aside to reveal a dark staircase heading down far below the ruined castle. The steps were weak and crumbling in some places, and the air was damp as Quinton and Harry walked into the depths.

"Professor… What was that? What did I say?"

"Merely the old courtesies, Harry. All Parselmouths remember them." She snapped her fingers, and the torches on the walls leapt into life.

"I'm afraid this isn't much, but it's all we've got for the moment." Quinton continued, as she led Harry into the first room. Long, bloodstained tapestries lined the walls, dancing with the firelight from the torches. The room was furnished with tattered couches and chairs that looked as if they would have been expensive, had they been new. Mirrors seemed to be a theme, and a great big one lay off to one side, opaque from on the dust on its surface. Its dusty-golden rim was decorated with a thousand snakes, and intertwined and writhing. Harry thought he saw one move, and reached out a hand - - 

"Don't _touch_ that!" Quinton cried, snatching his hand away from it. She was visible again. "There is a reason it hasn't been cleaned in a century!"

He nodded dumbly, and turned away, looking at the old stone fireplace.

"We'll have to inform a few people that you're here… I'm afraid we cannot contact your friends, but I'll ask McGonagall to sent them a letter. There's something for you to eat on the table, if you're hungry. But be careful not to touch anything else, as it's probably cursed.

"Really?" Harry asked, but received no reply as he walked into the kitchen. A sandwich and a glass of what was apparently milk lay on the highly decorated table. Not sitting down (the chairs looked as if they would eat him), he dove into the sandwich with relish. He was almost done when the door suddenly opened, and a snake slipped in. It was with a muffled cry that Harry realized it only had a head.

_/The daughter sends you thisss…/_ The snake said, shaking himself. He suddenly became visible, as did Harry's invisibility cloak on the floor. _/She says to wear it and join her…/_ Then it slithered away.

Harry obediently slipped into the cloak, and walked back to the room that Quinton had last been in – and stopped abruptly. 

"-look out than ever. Wherever you two are, I hope its safe…" That was Sirius' voice.

"Are you sure we can't see him, Uriel?" McGonagall - tentative, somehow. Harry moved closer.

"No." A harsh, curt word – Snape.

"I'm sure… Just a minute…" Sirius said, before Quinton interrupted him.

"No, Black, I'm sorry, but Severus is right. If any of you were to come, and the Dark Lord pressed him…" She paused, "We do not want him knowing where Harry is."

Harry had moved close enough to be able to see the group. Quinton was standing in a star with five points of light. Three of them had ghost-like shadowy figures behind them, made more of smoke than flesh.

"Yes, yes, you're right…" Sirius said, his transparent shoulders lowering. 

"If you wish, I can give him a message for you…" Quinton said, but Sirius looked at Snape and shook his head.

"As long as he's alright…." His voice trailed off.

"I'm sure Professor Quinton will make sure he arrives safely at Hogwarts in September. I, however, have other duties to attend to. Good day." McGonagall stepped backwards, and disappeared. 

"I should go to… Remus will want to speak with you, later." Sirius paused, looked at Snape, then back at Quinton. He barred his teeth to the first, nodded to the latter, and disappeared. 

"I suspect that you have already used up the entire supply of potions I sent you." Snape said, his smoky arms folded into his chest.

"Only the invisibility one." Quinton replied matter-of-factly.

"Do you need more?"

"No. Harry has… other ways."

"I know about that damned cloak." Snape said, frowning. "If you do need--"

"We're fine, Severus."

"Very well. However, I will say it bluntly, it would be folly to give it to him, Quinton."

"We have already discussed-- "

"It's too great a risk!" Snape snapped, "It could get him killed, or more likely, you."

"I'm surprised you care." Quinton said, ice edging her voice. 

"It doesn't matter what I think of him," Snape growled, "I would prefer if we locked him in detention for the rest of his life, but Albus was right. We _will_ need him." He looked uncomfortable for a minute, as if admitting this fact took more willpower than anything else he'd ever done.

"Quinton…" He started again, and then paused. He was pale. "Is there Dragon's Bane in your area? There is a shortage, and I'm running out…"

"I'll get you some."

Snape nodded, then stepped out of the circle. The last light went out.

"Harry?" Quinton sounded tired. Harry slipped off the cloak.

"How much did you catch?" The Professor asked wearily as she sat down upon a tattered couch.

"I saw Sirius…" 

Quinton nodded, and said nothing else as she stared at the floor. Harry shifted his weight uncomfortably. 

"What were you talking about?" He asked finally.

"You."

"And why was Sirius there? And – and – Snape?"

"Professor Snape."

"Sorry, Professor Snape."

"They were here because they both needed to hear about you."

"But… Sn--"

"I wish you two would stop." Quinton growled, "It is getting annoying."

"Sorry?" If there was anything that Harry was to learn, it was that Quinton could confuse him instantly.

"Never mind. Don't mind me, Harry, I'm being bitter. Your bedroom is the door down the hall from the kitchen. It's a bit damp, but…" She shrugged, "You'll be fine. Go get some sleep."

Harry nodded, and retreated to do so.

*

When Harry awoke, he at first couldn't tell where he was. When he remembered, he couldn't tell what time it was. He supposed that it would be hard to tell in a dungeon with no windows.

He hopped out of bed, put on his glasses, and headed toward the kitchen. There were voices, all talking at once. And when Harry stepped into the kitchen, he saw at once why.

Many, many snakes were all gathered in the room, slithering and slipping over the floor, the table, and the counters. There were small snakes, large snakes, and medium-sized snakes. There were green snakes, and black snakes, and brown snakes. There were so many snakes that Harry thought he had walked into a zoo.

Quinton was sitting at the table amongst them, speaking lowly in Parseltounge and writing down something as all the snakes spoke to her at once. There was something odd about the say she spoke, like it was forced and she didn't know all the words. One snake had wrapped itself around her head, and was whispering into her ear. She looked up, saw Harry, and looked back down at her parchment.

"Good morning, Harry." She said. Her voice was hoarse.

"You're a Parselmouth?"

"No. Not naturally. I learnt." She said something to a small grass snake on the table, and it nodded.

"You learnt?" Harry asked. He didn't know that someone could _learn_ to be a Parselmouth.

"Yes. Being an Animagus has its advantages." She didn't smile, but her eyes twinkled. 

A snake nudged Quinton.

_/Nothing from the second quarter./_ It said, and then slithered its way out of the kitchen. All the snakes began to speak once again.

"One at a time! One at a time!" Quinton cried, and began to write hurriedly on her parchment.

This conference went on for about half an hour, most of the messages like: "One muggle walked through section B20." None of it made any sense to Harry, but he was still fascinated. He had never seen so many snakes in one place, and many of them nodded to him and said Hello.

A particularly long and very old snake stopped by Harry's feet on the way out.

_/You remind me of Thomas./_ It said, looking at Harry with piercing yellow eyes, before it left the kitchen.

When Quinton was done, and all the snakes gone, the Professor held up a long parchment filled with her whispy, spider-like writing.

"The grounds are secure for now." She said, "You should be fine for when I go to Diagon Alley."

"You're going to Diagon Alley?"

"Yes." She did not need to add 'And you are not.'

Harry nodded, though he felt a little disappointed. 

"Don't do anything, don't say anything, and don't touch anything if you don't want to loose a few fingers. Understand?"

Harry nodded again, and looked worriedly at the chairs.

"Good. I'll be back shortly." Quinton stood and pulled on her black over-coat. With a little 'pop' she was gone.

*

It was a long and interesting summer living in the dungeons of Quinton's ruined castle. Upon exploring, Harry found that the dungeons were much bigger and far more elaborate than Harry thought at first, and he pondered over how big the rest of the castle would have been had it still been standing.

Quinton, though fascinating, was not very good company, as she was frequently missing, and when she was there she was lost deep in thought. 

So Harry counted off the days until he could at last return to Hogwarts. He had four days left on his calendar, when someone else joined their presence. 

Harry was awoken by harsh words that morning, and arguing in the other room. He couldn't make out the words, but one of the voices was Quinton's. The other was familiar, but he could not place it.

He moved to the wall and put his ear against it.

"Eavesdropper!" Squeaked the shrunken head on the wall, but Harry ignored it.

"—four days. It's safe now." Quinton's voice.

"It is not safe. It is _never_ safe."

"If you need my help, then come here! If you stay for three days, then we'll be leaving anyway, and--"

"It's still dangerous. Harry…"

"Is a smart kid, who you won't pose any danger to."

There was a short bark of a laugh, and then a long pause before Quinton continued.

"You need to come, you can't stay there."

"I don't think--"

"Come. It's alright."

And thus Harry spent three days with Snape.

*

The Next Chapter to Come: 'The Return to Hogwarts'

A.N. Please excuse my Latin – I can't speak it, just use a dictionary. So it's probably completely wrong.


End file.
